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Before there was a “Five Zero”, owner Nancy Batlin spent much of her life dreaming about having a small boutique filled with beautiful objects and fashion. At the ripe old age of 8 she would put together picture books and make color charts with her crayons, forecasting the seasonal trends. Stick figure models would bear her vision of what everyone would be wearing in the months to come (or so she imagined).

But instead of opening up the boutique she dreamt of, she took a long detour into the design industry as a creative director and brand strategist. While living in London, during her corporate days, the dream resurfaced and she became obsessed again. She found herself wandering from shop to shop, admiring beautiful objects, along with draining her bank account.

She knew the only way to reign her shopping habit in was to turn it into a career, spinning her passion into an asset instead of a fiscal nightmare. She went back to school to learn about the retail industry and product development, left the corporate world and all of her business suits behind, and started her company in 2004, with the idea of providing small luxury producers with a more holistic range of services from branding, marketing, product development and business logistics to positioning in the marketplace.

And her dream of owning her own boutique was almost realized. One of Five Zero’s first big clients were two very talented and creative business entrepreneurs who wanted help developing a luxury home decor boutique from the ground up — building the brand platform to launching the physical storefront.

It meant coming back to LA full-time, after living in Paris part-time, and after becoming quite comfortable with walking everywhere instead of sitting on a freeway for several hours everyday. So, she gave up her adopted homeland, her daily intake of fromage and baguette and agreed to this new endeavor. But, fortunately, she was asked to curate the product as part of the brand expressions so she had an excuse to go back to Paris to shop (mostly for other people), eat fromage and meet the most extraordinary designers.

And somewhere along the way, she got the crazy idea to design her own dinnerware line.

Five Zero continues to work with product designers, small retailers and a variety of other cliental providing a full range of services to help businesses realize their dreams. And the owner continues to find excuses to travel back to Paris for more fromage and baguettes.